Scottie Pippen calls out LeBron James for title chase

If I had a dime for every time a former player or someone in the basketball media offered an ill-informed view of an NBA icon’s career LeBron JamesI might have almost as much money in my bank account as the NBA’s first active billionaire. Unfortunately, my bank account is as empty as most of these criticisms, including the one recently directed in LeBron’s direction by a basketball Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen.

“My team’s success is more successful than LeBron’s.” I got six rings,” Pippen said on the PBD Podcast with Patrick Bet-David. Pippen then posed a question for hypothetical team owners who for some reason would be tasked with choosing between him and LeBron James. “Do you want individual accolades or do you want championships? Because I didn’t chase mine.”

This whole thing is ridiculous for a number of reasons, one of which is the fact that Pippen’s anti-LeBron position isn’t rooted in Michael Jordan admiration, which is generally the case nine times out of ten. if anything, Pippen was tied more critical his former teammategoing so far as to call him the near-consensus GOAT, a “terrible player” who was “terrible to play with” before he arrived in Chicago. But hey, that’s a conversation for another time.

In the case of LeBron James, here’s a very simple comeback I’d give Pippen if I had the chance. Below are the three franchises that LeBron James chose to join at different points in his career. Included is their record of the season before he arrived:

2009-10 Miami Heat – 47-35, eliminated in 1st round

2013-14 Cleveland Cavaliers – 33-49, missed the playoffs

2017-18 Los Angeles Lakers – 35-47, missed the playoffs

Within two years of joining each of these absolute juggernauts, LeBron James brought the franchise an NBA title, each of which ended with King James being named NBA Finals MVP.

Scottie Pippen did won his six NBA championship rings with the team he started his career with. That can’t be disputed, though it should be acknowledged that Pippen joined a playoff team that already had the league’s biggest star on its roster. But that’s not the problem here. The problem is that Pippen says this like he’s a lifelong Bull who: A) He’s not request to be changed from Chicago multiple times, and B) He didn’t play for a pair of Western Conference title contenders after he was traded.

Pippen’s trade to Houston in 1999 was largely financially motivated, but he was he joined a Rockets team that already included Hakeem Olajuwon and Charles Barkley, and went into the shortened season as one of the NBA title favorites. The following year, Pippen requested a trade from Houston in part because of his public feud with Barkley, but also because he expressed a desire to play for Phil Jackson and the Los Angeles Lakers, who would go on to win the next three championships.

Pippen didn’t get his wish, but he was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers, who reached the Western Conference Finals last year… the perfect place to chase a 7th championship ring if you’re not playing second to Michael Jordan.